Consul John Beecroft''s Journal of His Mission to Dahomey, 1850

In 1850 John Beecroft (a British Consul in West Africa) kept a diary of his diplomatic mission to the kingdom of Dahomey (in what is today the Republic of Bénin). His (unsuccessful) assignment was to suppress the trans-Atlantic slave trade and to persuade the Dahomian king, Gezo, to accept a treaty to ban the export of slaves from his dominions.

List of contents

• Introduction


• Maps


• Consul Beecroft's Journal


• Appendices


• Lieutenant Forbes' Journal


• Forbes; calculation of the cost of the Customs


• Supplementary documents


• Endnotes


• The Annual Customs


• What did Gezo say on 4 July 1850?


• Bibliography


• Index

About the author

Robin Law has held posts at the University of Lagos, Nigeria (1966-9), the Centre of West African Studies, Birmingham (1970-2), & the History Department of the University of Stirling from 1972, including Professor of African History (1993-2009) & Emeritus Professor since 2009.

His visiting posts include the University of Ilorin, Nigeria (1978), African Studies Centre, Leiden (1993-4), York University, Toronto (1996-7), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2000-1), Elected Fellow of the Royal Historical Society 1997, the British Academy 2000, and the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2002.

In 2010 Robin won the Distinguished Africanist Award of the African Studies Association of the UK.

Summary

In 1850 John Beecroft (a British Consul in West Africa) kept a diary of his diplomatic mission to the kingdom of Dahomey (in what is today the Republic of Bénin). His (unsuccessful) assignment was to suppress the trans-Atlantic slave trade and to persuade the Dahomian king, Gezo, to accept a treaty to ban the export of slaves from his dominions.

Product details

• Authors: Robin Law, Robin (Professor Emeritus of History Law, Law Robin
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 28.03.2019
• EAN: 9780197266533
• ISBN: 978-0-19-726653-3
• No. of pages: 302
• Series: Fontes Historiae Africanae
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900, HISTORY / Modern / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Slavery, HISTORY / Africa / West, Benin, c 1800 to c 1900, 19th century, c 1800 to c 1899, Colonialism & imperialism, c 1500 onwards to present day, Colonialism and imperialism, African History, Slavery & abolition of slavery, History and Archaeology, Slavery and abolition of slavery